Thursday, July 1, 2010

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

The only time I eat ice cream is during the warm summer months. It's always so appealing to me as a nighttime snack after a particularly hot and humid day. Hubby however, eats it year round and usually has a pint hidden somewhere in the freezer. Or maybe that's his Crown Royal.... but I digress.

I know ice cream is fattening and that the recommended serving size is 1/2 cup (what a joke, right?) but it took making homemade ice cream to get to me see exactly why it is so fattening. As I was pouring four cups of heavy cream and half & half into my sauce pan and gathering eight egg yolks into a bowl, it was difficult to ignore just how much fat goes into a typical, creamy homemade ice cream recipe. Oh I know there are recipes out there that use milk instead of cream, but if I'm going to eat ice cream, it's going to be the real deal or no deal at all. Believe me; this is the real deal. It has melt-in-your-mouth creaminess and just the right amount of chocolate flavor for my taste. I hope you enjoy it too. In moderation, of course.

Place the cocoa powder along with 1 cup of the half-and-half into a medium saucepan over medium heat and whisk to combine. Add the remaining half-and-half and the heavy cream. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.

In mixing bowl beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually beat in the sugar, occasionally scraping down the beaters and sides of mixing bowl. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about 1/3 of the cream mixture has been added. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Add in the pinch of salt and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees. Pour the mixture through a mesh strainer and into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.

I'm with your hubby on the merits of ice cream year round. In fact, the best I've eaten to date was from a street vendor in Moscow in January. Brrr. Anyway, back to the subject of your perfect recipe. I love that you've made this the real deal, with no mincing around on calorie counting. I can almost taste it now!

I know this is good with 8 yolks! I think ice cream is one of my all time favorites. I think, cause thats a hard call. I love everything! This looks like my cup of tea, or, should we say, my bowl of cream.

I love how creamy and yummy this looks! I too love ice cream but I can't eat it anymore and it makes me oh so sad. Its not lactose intolerance (I have no problem with milk and the likes). I just feel really ill even if I eat the recommended serving size. ;) Now I have to be happy with just a spoonful or two.

The ice cream looks delicious and chocolate is the way to go! I will definitely have to get my ice cream maker out and try this! I agree with your hubby and could eat ice cream every day, year round! My waist wouldn't like that though. Hope you're having a wonderful 4th!

I try not to keep ice cream in the house because, I will buy my favorite flavor and you know who will eat it. Perhaps, all the time, I have been saying how much I wanted an ice cream maker, I really knew better.

Your ice cream would tempt me so keep it far away and I will pretend I am eating it. Oh, Mags, that is delicious.

Yum! I love chocolate ice cream and this looks perfect for a hot day. I totally agree, if you're going to eat ice cream, eat the good stuff (and a half a cup is ridiculous!) My favorite recipe is Dorie Greenspan's chocolate ganache ice cream but this one looks great, too. You can't go wrong with AB!

I can never follow the portion size "rules" about ice cream. It is so dang good! This ice cream looks phenomenal and I am amazed at your photo! I can never photograph ice cream without it melting all over the place!

About Me

This is my documentation of my life after turning 50. Lots of recipes, some healthy, some not so much... tossed up with a hefty dose of sarcasm and motherly love.
My email address: maggielauerrdh(at)yahoo.com